Myth of Churning of Ocean

There was a war between Gods and demons, The Hindu mythology says with reasons; This went for long with full-fledged fights, Each troop spending sleepless nights; Dead remained dead and the gods did realize, That it's not in their power, the dead to rise; Gods approached Indira, God of the sky, And returned gaining no solutions, just with a sigh; They went to the Brahma, the great, Pleaded him soon the frail gods to liberate; Brahma directed them to Lord Narayana, The one maintaining the whole of flora and fauna; You need to make peace with the demons, he said, Stop fighting temporarily, for things to get set; You need to procure the nectar of immortality, Drinking which you'll overcome mundane fragility; Making demons as your comrades, You need to he ocean of myriads; Use mount Manthara as the churning rod, May Vasuki, the serpent, be the rope long and broad; Asuras, the power clans, be your assistants, That the toil goes with no resistance; Pleasing demons in this process is needed, Their prayer to possess the nectar yet, will not be heeded; The outcome of the first churning would be poison, Said Narayana, yet, you need not be in fear-frozen; Mountain was uprooted and placed in the sea, Serpent was tied to it as tight as it should be; Conflicts, like dusts midst breeze, sometimes sprang up, Compromises among each other, disputes did hush up; Mountain started sinking; serpent went revolting, Lord Ganesha had to be pleased to keep matters holding; Holding the mountain, within deep sea, Ganesha stood, Narayana, with his thousand hands, held the mountain-hood; The churning, thus, went ahead as it was wished, Kaalakutta, the dangerous poison, got upward pushed; Smoke and smell and fire of poison environs pervaded, Breath-choked, gods and demons, to Lord Shiva, pleaded; Shiva, the greatest of gods, swallowed the toxin, He held it in his throat; and it beautified his complexion; A drop of this venom, from his mouth, fell on the earth, And got created into snakes and scorpions and plants poison-worth; Kamaden, the white cow, uchaisravas, the white horse, And Airavata, the four-tusked elephant, appeared in full force; Precious stones and plants and trees came out too, Apsaras, women of enchanting beauty, stood in queue; Then out-came Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, Served by all creatures of heaven and the earth; She looked at Narayana, who's fullness, Freed of all qualities of Rajs, Satva, Tamas; He was a lake absolutely unperturbed, She, with all beauty, got in him immersed; The tireless toil of churning, midst these, went on, The appeared Varuni, the intoxicating, And then Dhanvantari, with of nectar gyrating; Demons snatched nectar from Dhanvantari, Gods rushed to Narayana with hopes empty; Fight broke betwixt demons, who would the nectar taste first, There stood, suddenly, Mohini, a woman finest; It's none but Narayana in disguise, They gave him the pot as their true prize; As Narayana knew the nature of demons cruel, He served the nectar to gods, shone like jewel; Myth, indeed, is long and much complicated, And the morals it gives, are much debated; Goodness at heart is rewarded, we could conclude, While, the evils kept away by God, for ever to brood; Temptations might wreck our ships of hard labor, Fixing our eyes on pole star of goal, will reach us to the harbor…! 22 March 2022